Sharjah Museums Department, Goethe-Institut Gulf Region, and University of Applied Sciences (HTW Berlin) with the support of Staatliche Museen Berlin - Stiftung Preuischer Kulturbesitz have established the first ever cross-cultural SAWA Museum Academy for students of museum studies and young museum professionals in the Gulf.

Building on a unique concept, SAWA, which means 'Together', welcomes nine German and ten participants from the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Palestine to study the core areas of museum management and museology together and at the same time learn from each other's experience or expertise.  In the same cross-cultural spirit, the SAWA Museum Academy, which will run from September 17thto September 27th, is also taught jointly by German and Emirates-based experts. Its first part is hosted by Sharjah Museums Department and takes place at the Museum of Islamic Civilization in the Emirate of Sharjah. In a second part in May 2018 the group will continue their studies in Berlin. The uniqueness of the SAWA Museum Academy program has convinced VolkswagenStiftung, one of Germany´s major foundations, to fund the program for the next 2 years.

SAWA is dedicated to exchange experience and ideas in appropriate museum studies across continents and cultures and to encourage mutual learning,â€Â explains Dr Gabriele Landwehr, executive director of the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region. Manal Ataya, Director General of SMD, added The Sawa Museum Academy is the latest in SMD's collaboration with HTW Faculty for Museum Studies, Berlin State Museums and the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region. With SAWA Museum Academy we have established a continuous program of summer schools based both in Sharjah and in Berlin. Regarding the content and ethos of the SAWA Museum Academy, Dr Susan Kamel, who teaches Museum Studies at the HTW Berlin and is the academic programmer of the summer school, explains, This term modules will address areas of appropriate museum studies such as the question what is understood as a ˜museum, ˜Participative Strategies in Collecting and Documenting the present, Curatorial Strategies, Visitors, Audiences and Communities as well as in addition the History of the Arabian Peninsula™.We brought experts of the various fields together - practitioners and academics – to teach the students and young professionals,

Aisha Deemas, Director of Executive Affairs at Sharjah Museums Department, said, "This pioneering summer school is aimed at fostering cross-cultural knowledge and awareness in the field of appropriate museology, as well as furthering professional development."